1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a shoe with an improved tightening system, and in particular to a tightening system including strap members disposed on the medial and lateral sides of the shoe and adjusting members slidably coupled to the strap members such that the shoe can be adjustably secured about the forefoot, ankle and heel of the foot.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous techniques are known in the prior art for securing or tightening a shoe to a foot. The most typical, and relatively simple technique, is the use of a lacing system. In a simple form of a lacing system, the upper is slit down its middle along the instep area, and eyelets are located along either side of the slit. A lace is passed through the eyelets and crisscrossed across the slit from the bottom of the slit to the top of the slit. By pulling on the upper free ends of the lace, the slit portions of the upper are drawn toward one another, and the shoe is tightened to the foot.
There are many variations to this basic form of lacing system. For example, the eyelets can be located at various widths across the slit in the upper such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,876 or the use of speed laces in combination with a variable width lacing such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,342.
Tightening systems using laces have the disadvantage of requiring the fixing and tying of the extraneous lace in place through the eyelets in the shoe upper. The use of laces and eyelets also does not allow easy adjustment and tightening about the forefoot of the shoe. In order to adjust the forefoot tightness in a shoe using a lace, the lace is loosened in the rearward eyelets so the shoe wearer can tighten the lace in the forward eyelets and then the slack taken up through the rearward eyelets and the lace tied across the ankle. Further, a lace system normally requires two hands for tightening and adjusting and cannot readily be done by children because of the required knot tying in the lace. Still further, a lace system is not easily released and requires the untying of the lace knot and the loosening of the laces in the eyelet in order to remove the shoe from the foot. Thus, removal of a shoe using a lace and eyelet system may, and often does, require the use of both hands of the shoe wearer. The lacing and knot of a lace and eyelet system also have the disadvantage of being a bulky and high-profile structure on the top of the foot thus detracting from the look of the shoe and the comfort along the top of the wearer's foot.
Other tightening systems known in the prior art use wires disposed on both sides of the slit in the upper along the instep area of the foot. These wires generally take the place of, and are positioned where the eyelets of a lace and eyelet system would be disposed. U.S. Pat. No. 175,367 discloses a fastening system wherein a wire is attached at numerous points along each side of the slit in the upper. The rearward/upper ends of the wires appear to be attached to the upper at a position in front of the ankle. The clasps are fastened on the wires low down where they come close together, and are then moved upward to draw the shoe tight, and to unfasten the shoe, the clasps are first moved down as far as they will go.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,059,351 and 4,631,840 disclose fastening devices wherein wires are disposed along both edges of the slit in the upper where the eyelets of a lace and eyelet system would be disposed. In an unfastened position, a rigid sliding member holds the wires a fixed distance apart at the forward portion of the slit. The rigid sliding member is attached to a pivotally mounted plate. In order to fasten the shoe about the foot, the plate is pivoted upwards towards the rear of the shoe thus moving the rigid member rearward along the wires and bringing the rearward ends of the wires into a closer relationship.
The above described wire-closure systems do not allow the upper to be adjustably tightened about the forefoot. The forward ends of the wires are positioned on top of the foot and the clasp/sliding members are moved rearward from the forward portions of the wires to close the slit in the upper. The clasp/sliding members are not moved forward to adjustably tighten the shoe about the forefoot. Additionally, the rearward ends of the wires appear to be attached in front of the ankle. Thus, the wire-closure systems described above do not appear to suitably tighten the shoe in the heel area or along the side of and around the ankle.